League match v Romford ravens 102-0

Yep that is not a mistake, 102-0, biggest ladies Hammersmith score in history, and first time to break 100points! And what an epic score it was. Big kudos to the ravens who never gave up despite playing with 13 players in the end, however, the day was ours. First league match of the new year and we had a game plan knowing how our old rivals play. Plenty of blue ball and stretch the legs.

7 mins in and our first try came from Helene as she pushed over the line 5-0. 2 minutes later Michelle made her first of many long runs around the fringes to make it 10-0. A few minutes later came a trio of tries, another 2 from Michelle (1 converted by Onora) and 1 from Katherine weaving her way through the solid Romford pack. This was followed by an immense run by Alex, back from injury, although sadly couldn’t quite make the line but as she said, she and I are like one and I was on her shoulder to help finish her try, converted by Michelle.

4 more tries followed taking us to half time, one a 50m sprint from Jess (conv Michelle) and a fourth from Michelle. An awesome catch from a restart by Bukky (conv Michelle) who proceeded to sprint the pitch while everyone watched and clapped, and an equally awesome similar sprint down the wing by Annabel to score under the posts.

HALF TIME 58-0

A similar story was to occur in the second half. 3 min in and a break by Ella who offloaded to Katherine made the score 63-0. 2 more tries to Michelle taking her total to 6 and a further conversion by Onora and the score became 75-0 within 10 minutes. Jackie with her first taste of a centre position scored 80-0, quickly followed by one from Ella (conv Onora) and another by Katie. At this point it slowed down a little, but Jackie and Katie ran through for one more a piece, Katie’s’ taking us past the 100 mark.

The ravens pushed us to the end and the last 5 minutes saw us defend like trojans. We could have become complacent, but the hammers spirit did not give in and the match ended 102-0. Full time and a very happy Mark and Frenchie – proud of our efforts in executing the game plan almost perfectly.

A great bench mark score to start 2018 and to show our opposition that we mean business. I hope I got everyone’s scores, you made it very hard this week but thank you to Alison for keeping track on WhatsApp.

Forward of the match went to Carola for her smart runs and carries, and defensive play.

Back of the match went to Jackie, who in her second ever match played for the first time as centre and once realising that she could run through people scored an epic 2 tries.

2 special pints went to Michelle, one for each of her hatricks

Looking to follow on from a solid winning performance against Chiswick the week before Hammers travelled along the Upper Richmond Road to face top of the league Rosslyn Park B’s on their 4G pitch.

Continuing from where they left off the week before, Hammers started the game strongly playing organised and disciplined rugby on the fast surface which Park struggled to deal with. Ed Brown (9) capitalising on the pace of the ball to snipe from the side of the ruck and go over for the first try of the game. Gathering the re-start Hammers worked the ball back, through slick hands and structured play, to see Bob Davies (5) bundle over for his first try for Hammers in the 3 years he has been with the club.

Park responded the way a team that sits top of the league would, putting pressure on the resilient Hammers defence. Keeping them out for over 5 minutes eventually saw Park take a shot a gaols to cut the Hammers lead to 3-12 after twenty minutes. However, this pressure from Park kept up and Park ended up holding onto the ball effectively and scored two tries to take a 20-12 lead at half time.

The second half saw both teams continue the physical and expansive rugby that had been played in the first half as they searched to establish and capitalise on a lead. Park looked though as they had done enough to win when they lead by 23 points with 20 minutes left to go, however a well taken try from Shaun Curtis (13) and two scores from inform winger Leon (11) – one of which came from Ryan Kenny (6) turning the ball over on Hammers own 5 metre line and quick hands from Bertie (8) releasing Leon sprint clear from half-way – saw Park’s lead cut to 8 points with 12 minutes to go. Try as they might Hammers could not create the opportunities that they structure play deserved and Park kicked a penalty and held on to win the game by 11 points, 40-29.

A well-played game by both sides, but Hammers realise that accurate retention of the ball is crucial in this league to winning and couldn’t help but feel that they could have gotten more out of the game and look forward to taking on Belsize Park in two weeks’ time.

Tries:

Ed Brown

Bob Davies

Shaun Curtis

Leon Joseph x2

Conversions:

Harris x2

Man of The Match: Leon Joseph

Tin-Man: Seb Money – Leon scored hat-trick, touch judge Seb ruled his foot was on the line as he grounded the ball

It was a strong Hammers 3^rd that took to Fortress Hurlingham against local rivals Chiswick on a frosty 6^th January. Benefiting from a near full compliment of players returning after the festive break, it was a confident captain Steve Harris (15) led the boys in a warm-up characterised by the typical positivity and a forgiving demeanour from Andrew Rogan (3) directed at the highly skilled but low-functioning Billy-f*£king-Rylance (6).

After a delayed kick-off, the boys received the kick-off from a Chiswick only to find themselves quickly on the defensive.  What followed was  sustained period of pressure that lasted for approximately 15 minutes but was characterised by excellent line-speed defence and bone-crunching tackles.  The second row pairing of Thomas Broadway and Tim Lawson was especially physically, backed up by a beefier George O’hara (2), who put his xmas-added muscle to good use by not taking a back foot against the direct running of the powerful Chiswick forwards.  Nevertheless, after a fluid passage of play that saw Chiswick stretch the Hammers defense, they eventually scored out wide in a well deserved try, opening the scoring at 5-0.  Game on.

The boys quickly bounced back.  A short line out in the Hammers 30m mark was ably called, caught and passed by Tim Lawson, who passed to Dave Buchanan (9) in what would prove the start of a man-of-the-match performance at 9. Dave fed Jack Davies (10) who found the waiting hands of Mark Johnson (8).  A swift sidestep found a hole, and after big meters he offloaded to Rylance who ran it further, before finding the waiting hands of Taylor (13).  Taylor then ran it if from approximately 35 meters out, beating defenders to score in the corner.  Hammers back in the game.

Two quick tries followed.  Direct running by Josh Myers (12) up the guts from our own half created opportunities out wide that were exploited by Jack Davies to score near the posts.  Minutes later a powerful rolling maul followed, grinding its way to the line before Cillian Bane (11) – in what was the first of a brace of tries – somehow got the ball and scored under the posts.  3-tries-to-1 up.

At this point the typical Hammers ‘forget-what-got-you-there’ period began.  A series of penalties saw Chiswick fight their way back in the Hammers corner for a line out they won, before they spun it to the mid-field and poor tackling allowed them to score near the posts.  Shortly after, a uncharacteristic miss-kick for touch was caught on the Chiswick 10 meter line by their 15 who had wheels.  He then proceeded to carve up the field and take advantage of Hammers dog-leg defence.  3 tries a piece, with only the Hammers more accurate goal kicking keeping them ahead by 4.

Despite these setbacks, the boys emerged from the half confident that their skills and fitness would see them out.  What followed was a brilliant mix of running Rugby and a score board that regulatory ticked over.  Line-outs led to mauls, and powered by the legs of Simon Khalil tries were scored.  Front foot ball led to gaps out wide, exploited by Sol Lucas (14), and Cillian Waldron (13, replacement).  Whilst Chiswick did score again, to get within 5 points, the last 20 minutes saw a brace of tries take the final score out to 48-26.  Full time!

In a season where the wins have been hard to come by at times, such a commanding performance bodes well for the second half of the season. Here’s to next week!

After a big loss the previous week, Hammers turned up at a cold and wet Hurlingham Park knowing that a win was much needed before heading into Christmas. With a good warm-up completed, the boys took to the field to the familiar cries of ‘Our House’ from a certain Old Ham, Matt Kelly, back from Australia for the Christmas break.

Starting strongly is something Hammers teams traditionally don’t do very well, and sure enough Hammers found themselves under pressure straight away from some strong running from a big Grasshoppers pack. This strong carrying up front meant Hammers were under pressure in their own half, and with any kicks being returned at pace by a quick Grasshoppers back three it was not long before they opened the scoring in the corner. One try quickly became two and Hammers found themselves 10-0 after the first 15 minutes.

A response was needed, and that was exactly what we got with the Hammers forwards starting to come into their own. Strong carrying from Tony Rees, James Watson and front row duo of JP and Si Khalil won Hammers a penalty and the ball was duly dispatched to the corner. Tom Broadway proceeded to win the line-out, as he did brilliantly all day, and from there the maul was set. From on the 22, the Hammers forwards proceeded to roll all the way over the line with Matt Kelly gleefully touching down at the back for a score that the forwards will remember for a long long time!

Following the restart, Hammers won another penalty in midfield, and the ball was once again fired towards the corner. The maul wasn’t quite so efficient this time, but Hammers were camped on the Grasshoppers 5 metre line. Si Khalil went close only to be held up, but when the ref blew for another penalty, Watson tapped quickly and piled over bringing the scores level.

Halftime: 10-10

Following halftime, Hammers again came out of the blocks slowly, allowing Grasshoppers to register the first points of the second half with another try bringing the scores to 15-10.

Hammers then managed to get some good field position and were deep into the Grasshoppers 22. From a strong scrum, a loose ball was gathered by Matt Baddeley who crashed over only to be held up. However, on the back of another dominant scrum from the Hammers pack, hooker Rees collected the ball and went over under the posts, this time converted by Chris Jager and Hammers had gone into a 17-15 lead.

From then, Hammers felt they had the momentum and really had to make it count. A big defensive shift led to Grasshoppers getting pegged back and then finding themselves in their own 22 looked to run it out. Joey Grahame read what was happening brilliantly giving himself the simplest of passes to pick off and race away for the simplest of tries, celebrating like he’d just scored the winner in the World Cup Final!

Grasshoppers looked deflated by conceding such a try, and then straight from the restart Watson broke numerous tackles and somehow sprinted from his own 22 only to be tackled just short of the Grasshoppers line! It was a brilliant run, and he managed to pop the ball up to Jager to touch down and give Hammers a 31-15 lead, but plenty more stick was to come Watsons way post match for not managing to make it himself!

Bonus point secured for Hammers, but the game was by no means secure just yet. Grasshoppers bounced back well from the setback of conceding three tries and enjoying some rare second half time in the Hammers 22, some strong pick and go’s from their forward pack ensured they got over the whitewash again leaving an 11 point deficit with 10 minutes to play. 31-20.

Hammers didn’t let this affect them and some strong phase play in midfield led them into the Grasshoppers 22. While trying to spread the ball wide quickly, there was a late hit on Baddeley which meant a penalty right in front of the posts. Jager duly kicked the three points on offer and that was to be that, with Hammers running out 34-20 winners, and heading into Christmas with a very important bonus point win.

Man of the match was James Watson for his try, strong carrying, and brilliant run to set up Jagers try, while tin man was Si Khalil for being held up twice!

On Saturday, the 2nd XV made the short trip across the river to our ‘second home’, Barn Elms to play local rivals London Cornish.

The lads didn’t leave the sheds until the very last minute to ‘warm-up’, partly due to it being freezing cold and partly due to not having a ball or match shirts!

Once the game kicked off, Cornish had the majority of possession, but the first 20 minutes of the game were a stale mate with the Hammers defense stepping up to stop the Cornish attack (largely down to an incentive from Johnson offering anyone who made the biggest hit a beer!). However, after some relentless pressure Cornish found a gap in the defensive line and went over.

After the kick off, the story continued with Cornish making ground in the Hammers half until a great read of the play by Al Horner, who intercepted and ran the length of the field until being dragged down a few meters short. With some quick ball, Hammers manged to get the ball to Leon Joseph to score the first of his brace of the afternoon. This gave Hammers some momentum and soon found themselves in the Cornish half again and winning the penalty, leaving John McManus the easy job of slotting the three points.

HT – Hammers 10 – Cornish 7

Hammers carried the momentum through half time and came out on the attack. After stretching the Cornish defense across the pitch, some slick hands from the backs unleashed Leon Joseph to speed round their right wing and score after a great bit of attacking phase play by Hammers.

With Hammers now accumulating points, Cornish were on the back foot and with some clever kicking, Cornish were being force to play from deep. So much so, after a good nudge to the corner the Cornish full back had a good Hammers line chase on him and he was force to kick. This didn’t go quite to plan as it landed perfectly into a well placed James Cramp (who was catching his breath) on the opposite wing. He marched the ball up as far as he could go until seeing the support line from Lawson who carried himself before, selflessly, making sure the covering deference didn’t get a chance to stop the try and offloaded to the screaming Johnson outside him who add another try to the Hammers tally.

After the kick off, Cornish then stepped up and applied pressure to the Hammers line that eventually broke down once again after some sustained pressure.

This didn’t stop Hammers however as they continued with some clever kicking that put Cornish’s left wing under some pressure who tried to showboat by keep the ball alive and slapping it back into play. Little did he realise that Al Horner was steaming up the wing and manged to gather the loose ball and score.

FT Hammers 27 – Cornish 12

Overall, an excellent team performance especially with the challenges faced before kick off. The defensive desire was outstanding and the attack was clinical with the opportunities received in the second half. Notable performances on the day included Tim Murray who had a massive tackling and carrying day, also fellow Ozzy Taylor Williams defended strongly and kicked well releasing pressure at crucial points in the game. Wingers Horner and Joseph were busy all afternoon and their tries were well deserved. Debut players George Eddell, Lewis Stenson and Ed Brown all slotted in seamlessly but the main mention most go to the man of the match Simon Khalil who was dominant in the frontrow at scrum time and his wrecking ball carries got the team on the front foot time and time again.

One final mention most go to JP who had to deal with our logistical nightmare head on and still performed well on the field.

1. JP
2. Tim Williams
3. Simon Kalil
4. James Cramp
5. Tom Broadway
6. Tim Lawson
7. Tim Murray
8. Mark Johnson
9. Gary Leith (c)
10. John McManus
11. Leon Jospeh
12. George Eddell
13. Taylor Williams
14. Al Horner
15. Lewis Stenson

16. Gael Eyenga
17. Ed Brown